BENGALURU Chipmaker Broadcom is selling its unit that allows users to remotely access desktops in a deal valued at about US$4 billion to KKR, furthering chief executive officer Hock Tan's efforts to streamline the firm's portfolio following its VMware takeover.

The end-user computing (EUC) unit will become a standalone company and will continue to be run by its existing management team led by Shankar Iyer, KKR said in a statement on Monday.

Reuters first reported the deal on Saturday, citing sources who said KKR prevailed in the auction for the EUC unit over other private equity firms including EQT.

Broadcom is separately attempting to shed VMware's security software business Carbon Black.

The US$69 billion VMware deal, which faced several regulatory hurdles, was among the biggest globally when it was announced in May 2022. Broadcom closed the acquisition more than a year later, in November 2023, after receiving regulatory approval in major market China.

The EUC deal marks the latest of KKR's acquisitions in the technology sector in recent years.

In 2018, it purchased US business software company BMC for US$8.5 billion, and two years later, it combined BMC with Compuware, a company it acquired from buyout firm Thoma Bravo.

In 2021, KKR acquired information services technology provider Ensono from private equity firms Charlesbank Capital Partners and M/C Partners for about US$1.7 billion.

Evercore, Deutsche Bank and Jefferies are advising KKR on the Broadcom deal, while Citigroup is advising Broadcom.

  - Reuters